Top Ten Tips for Laying Concrete
There’s no requirement to be intimidated by laying concrete – it becomes an easy material to do business with and incredibly versatile. The only thing to consider is that it’s hard to correct mistakes that have got made them, so always plan carefully before you begin. Our top ten tips should aid you in getting an excellent result.
1. Don’t lay new concrete over old concrete
Laying new concrete over old concrete will result in merely one thing – cracks. Before laying new concrete you have to completely separate the existing concrete and compact the surface.
2. Always use clean sand and gravel
Don’t attempt to save money by scraping up some gravel from your old driveway or pinching a certain amount of sand through the beach – always buy clean products from your local building product supplier. Even small amounts of foreign matter can ruin a full batch of concrete.
3. Be stingy with water
Too much water in your mix will weaken your concrete, causing it to shrink as it hardens. See the tip below about judging as soon as your mix is correct – don’t forget it’s better to increase the water when you need it than to take it away.
4. Concrete can burn
The concrete mix can burn your epidermis whether or not this enters connection with it, so dress sensibly in long sleeves and long pants and wear gloves as well as strong boots and safety goggles.
5. Judging a workable mix
A good concrete mix needs to be dull in appearance – a ‘shine’ to your mix probably means that there’s too much water inside the mix. To judge whether your mix is simply too wet or too dry, draw a shovel tip too much of the mix to go away a few …
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